Thursday, January 10, 2008

I finally finished my Ice quilt. I layered MistyFuse on white felt and then added swirls of organza and sheers. I dropped bits of Angelina on top and covered it with another sheet of MistyFuse. I quilted in waves using iridescent thread.

I made stars from two pieces of organza fused together. I cut these and then gently ironed the creases so they would be three dimensional. They pop out of the front of the quilt a little. I beaded them on the spines and then beaded them to the quilt. I added beads in a couple of the swirls to give it more interest and motion.

I freehand cut the edges with a rotary cutter and then couched a yarn to the edges. I'm not really happy with the edges. The ribbon didn't show up very well and the curves are sort of irregular.

Hi Lisa - Your quilt really says ICE. It like the way you've made it shine. I couldn't find the organza stars until I went to the close-up view. They are a nice addition.

This work actually made me think of the Aurora Borealis and Alaska when I first saw it. The movement of the colors and the sinuous shapes are very appealing.

I feel like the quilt needs something that draws the eye in and moves it around. I'm not sure what that "something" could be - maybe even a piece of glittery yarn that you could couch to the surface. Just a thought...

Thanks, Carole and Roberta. Yes, the stars don't show up well at all. I was hoping they would show better, and if they hadn't been so much work, I might consider taking them off and replacing them. Hmmm, I wonder if I could paint them....

I've never seen the Aurora Borealis but have always wanted to. I have always been drawn to swirls and curvy patterns though, and they find their way into my work often.

I agree that there needs to be more of a focal point to the piece, or something to draw the eye. I can try tossing various darker yarns over the surface and see how it looks. The beads were meant to be more of a focal point on the two "arms" but they also don't show up well. The piece is SO shiny and sparkly, and so light, that it just doesn't photograph well.

We were having a very blustery, foggy week when this challenge came out, and I went for something cool and pastel. I think this piece captures the theme well but it could use some help artistically, with more value changes and a better focal point.

Lisa, I quilte like the techniques you used for this. I think you have really managed to do ICE!

you mentioned you weren't happy with the irregular edge. I actually think it is very good. If it were more regular, it would not bring as much interest to the piece.

as for drawing the eye around, what would happen if you used icy coloured beads...clear or silver, etc, to accent the edges of some of the sheer swirl colours that can be seen. perhaps rather than a certain side of each colour, you could follow the edges from the lower left side to the upper right side, and similar. making sinuous lines similar to what the quilt edges are like?

I love the soft shimmery pastels in this piece! It occurs to me that the reason the stars are so hard to see is because they are so transparent allowing the background to sort of camoflage them. What if you paint them with a pearlescent white paint to block some of the background colors?Good job!Cherie